Penn Township targets growth with comprehensive plan

Penn Township last adopted a comprehensive plan for the community in 2005. A lot has changed since then.

Officials hope an updated plan will position the community for growth in the decade ahead.

New housing developments are cropping up all over the township. Plans for a high-speed rail line, once controversially slated to cross the municipality, fizzled out. Unconventional gas drilling — also known as hydrofracking — began at several sites. And the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced its plans to build a long-discussed turnpike interchange on Route 130 — though likely not for years to come.

Penn Township is still a rural community, but it has been gradually developing for decades, said Alex Graziani, township manager.

“Penn Township has proven to be one of Westmoreland County’s most vibrant and continually growing communities since the 1980s,” he said.

Real estate transfer taxes — which can be used as a rough measure of new construction and development — topped $400,000 for the last few years, well above pre-recession levels.

“The housing market that we’ve seen in our township has done very well,” Graziani said. “It is hitting record levels.”

The township is paying $75,000 to Findlay-based Mackin Engineering to consult on the plan update. Township commissioners and staff started working on the first steps of the planning process over the summer.

“The key thing is, although it seems like a benign and boring process, it’s very important for (residents) to get involved and take a look at this,” said Bill Roberts, director of the township community development department. “The comp plan is the document that lays out the future of the township.”

The new plan will focus on three key pillars: infrastructure, economic development and land use, Graziani said.

“For the most part, it’s really about trying really hard to have realistic, doable ideas, or goals,” he said.

The township faces several infrastructure challenges. Residents in several communities face severe flooding whenever there’s a heavy rain. The township has earmarked tax money and sought outside funds to pay for a host of planned storm water management projects.

It recently extended the main sewer line along Harrison City/Export Road, with plans to expand it further over the next year. This has enabled more businesses to move into the township’s central corridor.

“Once that sewer line is in place, we will see commercial development along that corridor, and more residential development as well,” Graziani said.

A municipal tax break attracted numerous new businesses to the Bushy Run Industrial Park, Graziani said.

The turnpike interchange could lead to additional economic development, but likely not in the short term, Roberts said.

“It’s going to put Penn Township on the map, with regard to easier access, better destinations and such,” he said.

The more immediate priority, according to Roberts, is making sure township roads are prepared to handle the expected influx in traffic an interchange could bring.

The final planning pillar, land use, will focus on mixed-use neighborhoods, which allow homes and some businesses, Graziani said.

The township adopted a new planning ordinance in 2016 after years of discussion and debate, but most of those efforts focused on the effect of hydrofracking, he said. Now, the township plans to turn its focus to other types of development.

Officials hope to start soliciting public feedback in the spring. A final plan could be approved by August.